Saturday, August 04, 2007

Aren't American Bridges Just as Important as Iraqi Bridges?

In this article in the Nation magazine, John Nichols points out that the Federal Government has delayed for years in repairing America's infrastructure. This is a quote from the article:

But there is simply no question that the steady neglect of the crying need for repair and improvement of bridges, levees and other vital pieces of the nation's infrastructure, and the resolute stinginess of a federal government that is much better at finding money to repair the Middle East than the middle west, makes disasters more likely to occur and more extreme in their consequences.

Meanwhile, the cost of the Iraq War, according to a website called "Cost of War", run by the National Priorities Project, is now over 448 Billion dollars. Think about what that money would have done if it would have been spent in America fixing our roads, bridges, levees, dams, etc. Think about the jobs it would have created and the businesses that it would have supported.

Which brings us to this point: Democrats need to point out to Americans that it is past time for us to focus on our own country. We should stop trying to rebuild the Middle East and start rebuilding the Midwest, and the North, South, East, and West while we are at it. We have an administration that seems to think that helping Iraqis rebuild their country is more important than helping Americans rebuild our country.

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